MUNCIE — The former owner of a Muncie flea market, who sold the building for $150,000 only to see the new owner sell it to the Muncie Sanitary District weeks later for $395,000, has filed a tort claim notice against Mayor Dennis Tyler and local government, alleging officials conspired to defraud him of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Carl Barber and his wife, Martha, filed the tort claim notice with Tyler, the law office of city attorney John Quirk, and the Muncie Sanitary District and its board.

The Barbers estimate their damages at $350,000, which is the amount they seek from the city and Muncie Sanitary District.

A tort claim notice is considered the first step in suing a government entity and is usually followed by a response — or non-response — by a municipality's insurance agent or a lawsuit filed by the complainant.

Tyler, contacted for comment Friday by The Star Press, acknowledged receipt of the tort claim notice.

"It's been turned over to our city attorneys and our insurance attorneys," Tyler said. The mayor said the tort claim notice "names city of Muncie," but the notice specifically cites "Muncie Indiana Mayor, Dennis Tyler."

The Star Press reported in February that the Muncie Sanitary District had in September paid Jeff Burke, a local businessman, $395,000 for the flea market building and surrounding property. Burke had purchased the building from Barber in August for $150,000.

The total assessed value of the property, according to the Delaware County assessor's office, was $121,100. The district paid for two broker price opinions that were done on the property that said its market value was $399,000 and $462,193.

In a February interview, Barber maintained that he believed Burke had inside knowledge that the sanitary district wanted the building to demolish for White River levee work. Burke denied he had any inside knowledge.

The Star Press on Friday contacted sanitary district administrator Nikki Grigsby and MSD attorney Tom Malapit. Malapit and fellow MSD attorney Mark McKinney reviewed the tort claim notice and Malapit replied, "it appears to contain several inaccurate and self-serving facts ... most of which is frivolous."

"We intend to vigorously defend the district on this claim," Malapit said."We are not going to pull any punches in our defense."

Grigsby said the district's insurance company "handles/addresses all tort claims."

Burke, who is not a party to Barber's tort claim notice because such filings are aimed at government entities, was contacted by The Star Press on Friday and said he would respond to claims Barber made in his tort claim notice in a later phone call.

Barber claims that, sometime prior to Burke's purchase of the flea market from Barber, "the Muncie Sanitary District, via its officials and/or employees, illegally leaked information to, and ultimately entered into an agreement with, Jeff Burke ... wherein Jeff Burke would fraudulently purchase the property located at 1710 E. Main St. under false pretenses from Carl and Martha Barber."

Barber alleges that the MSD "concealed" from the Barbers agreements that "among other things, called for Burke to first purchase the property under false pretenses at a lower price from Barber and then to resell the property to the MSD, once Burke obtained title, for a much higher price and then for Burke and others involved to share in the illegally obtained profits."

Barber said that the MSD "was aware of the Barbers' ownership interest in the property, as the MSD provided utility services for the Barbers and the subject property, for which the Barbers paid."

The tort claim says that Burke approached the Barbers and offered to purchase the property for use as a gun range and offered $150,000. The sale went through on Aug. 6 and Burke sold the property to MSD for $395,000 on Sept. 23, the tort claim notes.

The flea market closed in recent weeks and the tort claim notice alleges that some of the flea market vendors still have personal property inside the locked building.

Contact Keith Roysdon at 765-213-5828 and follow him on Facebook and Twitter.